The Jews of Color Initiative believes that a fuller picture of the JoC community still needs to be painted. We commission vital studies to fill research gaps and bring the nuance and diversity of Jews of Color into view. Our research is guided by principles of racial equity and justice, centers questions emerging authentically among Jews of Color, and generates practical change in the Jewish community. We also make grants that support independent research studies advancing our communal knowledge of Jews of Color. Scroll down to learn more about grantee research findings!
Collectively, these three studies conducted by JoCI grantees demonstrate the power of research as a tool for advocacy, ultimately driving tangible impacts on community offerings.
This report uses survey and interview data of a complex fabric of JoC identities, lived experiences, and perspectives. In the context of the national conversation about race in the United States, this study enhances American Jews’ understanding of their own racial and ethnic diversity and provides an opportunity to reflect on how systems of inequality are perpetuated in our own community.
Using a meta-analysis of national and community population studies, the findings affirm that at least 12-15% of American Jews are Jews of Color. This study also demonstrates that prior research systematically undercounted Jews of Color.
Grantee Research
In addition to commissioning our own research studies, JoCI proudly supports projects by independent researchers and organizations that expand our understanding of the intersectional experiences of Jews of Color.
Scroll down to explore reports from grantee researchers, or click the orange button to find opportunities to engage with ongoing research!
Watch as Dr. David McCarty-Caplan presents the findings of this groundbreaking research, Shades of Belonging: Exploring Religious Identity and Sense of Belonging Among Jewish Adoptees of Color, and interviews two JoC adoptee survey participants on their experiences. This research project utilized qualitative and quantitative data to gain insight on the experiences of JoC adoptees and their racialized Jewish identity formation. The data collected from this research will work to expand our understanding of transracial adoption and racial equity.
Being both Jewish and people of color, Jews of Color are dually impacted by racism and antisemitism as interwoven vectors of trauma. Yet no known prior research has studied the unique ways in which Jews of Color experience and are impacted by them together. The primary objective of this project — led by an all-JOC team of researchers, educators, and community organizers through the Mitsui Institute — is therefore to increase our collective knowledge and understanding of racism and antisemitism as intersectional impact forces on Jewish bodies — especially but not limited to Jews of Color.
Tiyuv partnered with TischPDX, JOC Collective, and Jews of Color Initiative and launched a survey to gain valuable insights into the demographics and interests of JOCs in the PNW, including affiliations, interests, and engagement in Jewish communal life.
In October 2022, a group of Jewish people of color advisors with clergy, ritual, and nonprofit experience convened to reflect on their experiences navigating Jewish end-of-life practices and rituals, and explore the idea of creating resources to support Jewish people of color during life’s most challenging moments.
We invite Jewish communal leaders and community members to engage deeply with our 2023 research grantees’ findings. Their research brings clarity to intersectionality in various sectors of Jewish life, painting a beautifully expansive picture of JoC experiences.
